They've taken her, they've taken Anwen
by christine.liddle.397
Summary: When Anwen is stolen away in the night, the remnants of the Torchwood team are at a loss as to why. Set after Miracle Day, in Cardiff, with Gwen, Jack and Rhys, we discover just how far Gwen is willing to go to get her daughter back.
1. Prologue

_They came in the night, silent, though no one was awake to hear them. In a small cottage on the outskirts of Cardiff, husband and wife lay sleeping. The husband, Rhys, made soft snores against his pillow, while his wife Gwen was silent, except for her breathing. On his bedside table a lorry schedule, on hers a gun and a baby monitor. In the next room a toddler, Anwen, stirred as the already ajar window was opened, through it climbed half a dozen men hidden behind their black masks. As they lifted the child out of her cot she began to protest, kicking, quietly crying, and then full on bawling. The men exchanged panicked looks and began to hurry._

_Gwen sat up groggily to the high pitched noise over the baby monitor, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. _

_"I'll get her love, you do it every night." said Rhys. Gwen sighed thankfully and flopped back onto the bed. Rhys stumbled to the door, half asleep and groaning, when he reached Anwen's room he turned the handle slowly, it was dark. Anwen was the sort of child that didn't need nor want a night light, she was too young anyway to know about the monsters that lurked in the shadows. However the darkness prevented Rhys from seeing, and when he bent down to pick Anwen up his hands grasped the air. She was gone. _

_"Gwen!" He shouted, loud enough to wake the street. _

_She groaned through the wall, "What is it? Is she teething?" Rhys just shouted her name again. Gwen climbed out of the bed and rushed to his voice. _

_"What is it?!" she cried opening the door and flicking the switch. It took a second for Gwen to realise._

**_"They've taken her, they've taken Anwen."_**


	2. Not your fault

"What?" Gwen said quietly already knowing what. Rhys kept talking Gwen slipped away. This was her fault, it had to be, they'd taken Anwen because of her. Because of Torchwood. To anyone looking Gwen looked absent, but Rhys was too busy to notice. Checking the window, calling the police, looking down the street, searching, hoping, for anything to help him get his little girl back. He knew what he had to do, though he didn't want to. He called Jack. The last resort, Captain Jack Bollocks, as he liked to call him. Rhys shook Gwen trying to get a response, the only one was a slowly blink. A million thoughts and feelings were racing through her mind. Fear. Anger. Guilt. What if she doesn't get her back? Who took her? Why didn't Rhys lock that damn window

"Gwen, listen to me, we'll get her back." Rhys assured her. Gwen slowly sank down into the arm chair in the living room, while he handed her some tea. Though right now she wished for something stronger. A lot stronger. The police officers crowded the room, and Rhys was glad he'd hidden her guns before they arrived as they seemed to be looking around at everything. Just as the police were leaving Jack entered the house, Rhys stopped him at the door and they began to murmur out of Gwen's earshot. She heard snippets, of the conversation. Jack came and joined Gwen. He put his hand in comfort on her shaking ones, and smiled his ever comforting grin.

"We'll find her. I promise."

"Did they leave?" She said, inquiring about the police.

"They'll be back, to put up more of their bloody tape!" Rhys snarled bitterly. The anger had finally hit him at last, what kinda of people would take a small child. A small beautiful little _girl_ like Anwen. Then he stopped thinking about that as it made him want to vomit and scream at the same time.

"I'm gonna go back to the hub and start the investigation then." Jack said turning to leave. Gwen grabbed his hand, needy. Gwen was never needy.

"Don't. Or at least let me come too, I need to help."

They made there way towards the bay in the new SUV. Gwen didn't like what Jack had been doing recently. Replacing the old car, rebuilding the hub, it felt like he was trying to act like the old days. With Tosh, and Owen, and Ianto. It would never be the same without them. Even though technically Jack hadn't built the hub so to speak, the Crown did. Since it was founded by Queen Victoria, it was owned by the royal family. When the old hub was blown up, they rebuilt the bay and the water tower, but unknown to the public, they had also rebuilt the secret base underneath. It didn't look quite the same but it was close enough, and ever since they had returned from America Jack had been furnishing it with computer, and alien tech. If only they'd known about it, it would've been a much better place to hide than little cottage in the middle of no where, but with Jack not on the planet, and Gwen pretending she and her family didn't exist there was no one around to tell.

Jack drove into the underground car park for the Millennium Centre and from there they walked, Gwen was astounded. It looked just like it used too, but with small differences. No photo of Tosh and Owen on her desk, no coffee machine anywhere to be seen.

"Jack?" She asked as she looked around.

"Yes?"

"Do we still have the gun range?"

"Yes. You want to take out some anger?"

"I'm not even sure it is anger. I think it's gone way beyond that. They've taken my little girl from me, probably because of me. An innocent child. They could be doing god knows what to her." She spoke with complete calmness which made her even more terrifying.

"Gwen." He said each word slowly. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault." She knew it was. Why else would they do it? What could they possibly want from a toddler? No. This was to get at her. It had to be.


	3. When we are done

Gwen sat silently on a chair in the hub with an absent face as Jack worked hard. The mug of tea in front of her was untouched and cold, the closest Gwen had come to drinking it was tapping in the side of the mug. Frowning, Jack looked over to her with concern. She hadn't slept, eaten or drunk. He decided he had to do something about it.

"Gwen I promise, we are going to solve this. But I need you at your best. I'm going to order pizza and you're going to eat it." Maybe being strict would snap her out of it.

"Jack I'm really not hun-"

"Gwen."

"Okay." She said sounding pissed off, Jack smiled at least it was a response with some emotion. He knew Gwen was destroying herself with the guilt and blame inside, but she had stopped showing it on the outside.

Jack went to order pizza, and he also texted Rhys to let him know what was going on as Gwen hadn't. Although Gwen had more experience she wasn't coping as well as Rhys. Rhys had dealt with the police all day, and offered to come to the hub to see Gwen, but Jack decided best not, he told Rhys to get some sleep. Also that Gwen was fine, which may not have been the whole truth, but Gwen knew having Rhys fuss over her when she got home would worsen her mood.

When the pizza arrived they sat down to eat and Gwen avoided looking Jack in the eye as she spoke.

'I don't think we're going to find her...'

"We will. I'm sure of it."

"They haven't even asked for a ransom Jack, clearly who ever took her plans on keeping her. Theres no trace of her, no trace of 'them'' She said quietly.

"We've been over this Gwen. We don't know why or how or who. But we will. Soon.'

They continued to eat the pizza in silence until Gwen's phone beeped, she slipped it out her back pocket and read the message. Her face dropped in shock and upset.

'What does it say Gwen?' Silence. 'Gwen!?'

Gwen hands the phone over to Jack slowly and he reads the message. **We have Anwen. Do not look for us. We will return her when we are done. **

'Done doing what?" Gwen sobs fearful for her little girl.

"Oh god..." Jack says.


End file.
